The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is calling on the Ukrainian government to release all political prisoners, according to Official web site of Yulia Tymoshenko.
In the Monaco Declaration, adopted at the OSCE PA Annual Session on July 9, "the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly reaffirms that there should not be any political prisoners in the OSCE area and calls on Ukraine to free all political prisoners."
The OSCE PA also calls on Ukraine to guarantee a functioning, independent, and transparent judiciary by fulfilling its OSCE Human Dimension commitments, particularly with regard to the effective right to fair trial and the respect of the principle of equality of arms in criminal proceedings, as well as to adequate treatment of convicted persons.
In the Monaco Declaration the OSCE PA calls on the Ukrainian authorities to reinforce the position of the ombudsperson, and to ensure that the post is occupied by an individual with relevant experience in human rights and emphasizes that Ukraine, which is going to hold the Chairmanship of the OSCE, has a particular responsibility to provide a good example with regard to respecting these commitments.
The organization also urges Ukraine to resolve these issues of rule of law, human rights and democracy, in line with its OSCE Human Dimension commitments, before taking over the OSCE Chairmanship in 2013.
The OSCE PA also calls on Ukraine to amend its Criminal Law and its Constitution if necessary in order to avoid the existence of politically motivated trials, and specifically to revise articles 364 and 365 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine in line with the Council of Europe’s standards, as well as to reform the Prosecutor’s Office, devolving its excessive powers to other relevant institutions.
Ukrainian authorities are also urged to ensure the health and guarantee the medical treatment of a number of former government officials currently in prison, including Lutsenko, Ivashchenko and Tymoshenko, and to allow, without preconditions, medical examinations and, if necessary, treatment by independent doctors outside the prison and outside Ukraine.
The principal author of the Monaco Declaration on Ukraine was Italian deputy Matteo Mecacci. The 21st Annual Session of the OSCE PA "OSCE: Region of Change" was held in Monaco on July 5-9.
